Journey for Redblacks falls just short of glory

The Ottawa Redblacks looked like a house afire to start the Grey Cup game, but the Edmonton Eskimos found an extinguisher and doused the flames before taking control of the scene at Investors Group Field and pulling away for a 26-20 victory in the Canadian Football League championship contest.

So, there wasn’t a fairy-tale ending for the Redblacks’ second season in the league, but rather a repeat of the Ottawa Rough Riders’ 1981 Grey Cup game setback against the Eskimos.

“It hurts a lot,” said Redblacks quarterback Henry Burris, who threw touchdown passes on the first two drives of the game, but couldn’t get his team back in the end-zone after that.

“This is my second time here in three years,” added Burris, who also lost the 2013 final as a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, “and it’s disappointing not to come out with a victory, especially when you fought so hard to get things turned around with all the young guys in this locker-room.”

It should be noted here that the Eskimos were 4-14 just two years ago, so the team that built its CFL championship legacy on teams led by coach and executive Hugh Campbell, father of Redblacks coach Rick Campbell, should also be saluted for building a winner in a relatively short period of time.

That won’t be much comfort to Redblacks players and coaches, who dreamed of a CFL miracle, but they have no reason to hang their heads.

Jordan Lynch’s quarterback sneak with three and a half minutes to go produced the winning points for the Eskimos. That score was set up by pass-interference penalties against Ottawa defenders Abdul Kanneh and Brandon Sermons on consecutive plays.

The Redblacks got the ball back, sure, but Dexter McCoil’s sack of Henry Burris forced a punt and the Eskimos never gave the ball back. Two runs by Akeem Shavers produced a key first down to drain most of the remaining time, and another run for a first down by Adarius Bowman kicked off a celebration on the Edmonton sideline.

“Right now I would say that,” Rick Campbell said in response to a question about whether Sunday’s loss would be hard to get over, “but I would also say that the sun’s probably going to rise tomorrow and life’s going to move on.

“Yes, we’re disappointed now, but we’re extremely excited for the future in Ottawa. It’s a great place to play football for a number of reasons. There’s lots of reasons to be hopeful for the future, but we are going to be disappointed because we came a long way, but there will be a time and place here in the near future where we’re going to get back to work and keep trying to build this into a top-rate franchise in this league.”

The Redblacks certainly couldn’t have dreamed of a better start to the game.

They drove more than 70 yards on the game’s first possession, using five passes (four complete) and one run to set up a three-yard touchdown toss from Henry Burris to Patrick Lavoie. Chris Milo made the convert and it was 7-0.

Tony Washington (58) and others members of the Edmonton Eskimos hoist the Grey Cup after they defeated Ottawa Redblacks at the 103rd Grey Cup in Winnipeg, Man. Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015.NATHAN DENETTE/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Ottawa Redblacks quarterback Henry Burris walks off the field following a loss to the Edmonton Eskimos in the 103rd Grey Cup in Winnipeg, Man., Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015.JOHN WOODS/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Ottawa Redblacks quarterback Henry Burris, right, hangs his head in the locker room after losing the 103rd Grey Cup to the Edmonton Eskimos in Winnipeg, Man. Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015.JOHN WOODS/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Edmonton Eskimos' quarterback Jordan Lynch scores a touchdown during the second half of the 103rd Grey Cup against the Ottawa Redblacks in Winnipeg, Man. Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015./THE CANADIAN PRESS

Edmonton Eskimos' head coach Chris Jones gets Gatorade poured on him following his teams win over the Ottawa Redblacks during the 103rd Grey Cup in Winnipeg, Man. Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Redblacks quarterback Henry Burris tries to elude the Eskimos' Marcus Howard during the Grey Cup game at Winnipeg on Nov. 29, 2015.JOHN WOODS/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Hugh Charles #28 of the Ottawa Redblacks is hit by Cauchy Muamba #8 of the Edmonton Eskimos during first half Grey Cup 103 action at Investors Group Field on November 29, 2015 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Trevor Hagan/Getty Images

Henry Burris #1 of the Ottawa Redblacks fires a pass during the first half of Grey Cup 103 against the Edmonton Eskimos at Investors Group Field on November 29, 2015 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Trevor Hagan/Getty Images

Adarius Bowman #4 and Derel Walker #87 of the Edmonton Eskimos celebrate after Bowman scored a touchdown during first half of Grey Cup 103 in front of Kienan Lafrance #37 of the Ottawa Redblacks at Investors Group Field on November 29, 2015 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Trevor Hagan/Getty Images

Greg Ellingson #82, Ernest Jackson #9, and Patrick Lavoie #81 of the Ottawa Redblacks celebrate after Lavoie scored against the Edmonton Eskimos during first half Grey Cup 103 action against the Edmonton Eskimos at Investors Group Field on November 29, 2015 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Trevor Hagan/Getty Images

Ernest Jackson #9 of the Ottawa Redblacks celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Edmonton Eskimos during first half Grey Cup 103 action at Investors Group Field on November 29, 2015 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Trevor Hagan/Getty Images

Henry Burris #1 of the Ottawa Redblacks on the sidelines during the first half of Grey Cup 103 against the Edmonton Eskimos at Investors Group Field on November 29, 2015 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Trevor Hagan/Getty Images

WINNIPEG, CANADA - NOVEMBER 29: Ottawa Redblacks fans in the stands prior to Grey Cup 103 against the Edmonton Eskimos at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Trevor Hagan/Getty Images

This football fan was in Winnipeg to take in the 103rd Grey Cup game between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Ottawa Redblacks. Another 7,000 fans were back in Ottawa, cheering on their team at the TD Place arena.NATHAN DENETTE/THE CANADIAN PRESS

A football fan smiles for a photo as he attends the 103rd Grey Cup between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Ottawa Redblacks in Winnipeg, Man., on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Peter Azzi gets the crowd pumped as a few thousand Ottawa Redblacks cheer at the TD Place arena as they watch the 2015 CFL Grey Cup Sunday May 29, 2015. Darren Brown/Ottawa Citizen

Jennifer Coles and Emile Beaudry show their Ottawa Redblacks love at the TD Place arena as thousands of fans gather to watch the 2015 CFL Grey Cup Sunday May 29, 2015. Darren Brown/Ottawa Citizen

A football fan smiles for a photo as he attends the 103rd Grey Cup between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Ottawa Redblacks in Winnipeg, Man., on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015.DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Then Jake Harty forced a fumble by Eskimos kickoff returner Kendial Lawrence and Damaso Munoz made the recovery for the Redblacks at the 40. Four plays later they were in the end-zone again on a seven-yard throw from Burris to Ernest Jackson. Milo missed the convert, but it was still 13-0 and Edmonton’s offence hadn’t been on the field yet.

When it did, quarterback Mike Reilly took the Eskimos on a six-play drive that led to a 24-yard field goal by Sean Whyte. Much of the yardage came from a 33-yard pass-interference penalty against Redblacks linebacker Antoine Pruneau.

On the next Redblacks series, speedy Redblack Chris Williams got open behind the Eskimos defence, but the throw slipped out of Burris’s hand and was easily intercepted by Patrick Watkins.

Five plays later, the West Division champions were in the end-zone again, with Adarius Bowman getting open and catching a 23-yard throw from Reilly. After Whyte made the convert, it was 13-10.

Half of the second quarter had passed before the score changed. A six-play drive by the Redblacks set up a 27-yard field goal by Milo for a 16-10 advantage. Whyte trimmed a point off that margin with a single on a missed field goal from 45 yards.

After an unproductive, three-play offensive possession for Ottawa and a punt by Milo, Edmonton drove 88 yards in eight plays to take the lead for the first time. Reilly ran three times and was 5-for-5 passing, with the last two going to Akeem Shavers and the former Redblack — he was released after playing in two preseason games in June — put his new club ahead with 12 seconds remaining in the half.

The good news for the Redblacks was that Reilly couldn’t connect with Bowman on the two-point convert attempt, so the East Division champs trailed by only one point as they headed into the locker-room for the break.

The bad news was that the Eskimos were moving the ball effectively, particularly on the ground with Shavers and Reilly himself, and they continued to do that at the start of the third quarter. Their initial drive after the break stalled, but a 45-yard punt by Grant Shaw pinned the Redblacks at their nine-yard line.

Ottawa Redblacks quarterback Henry Burris, right, hangs his head in the locker room after losing the 103rd Grey Cup to the Edmonton Eskimos in Winnipeg, Man. Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015.

However, a long pass for Maurice Price led to a 42-yard pass-interference call to get the Redblacks out of that hole, and they drove to the Eskimos’ 26 before stalling and settling for a 33-yard Milo field goal and a 19-17 lead.

The Eskimos had the wind advantage in the third quarter, but could manage only a 69-yard punt single by Grant Shaw, and the Redblacks happily traded that rouge for field position.

They were even happier after Whyte’s 35-yard field goal attempt, at the end of the quarter, hit the right upright and stayed out. No point for the Eskimos and the Redblacks were still ahead 19-18 going into the final quarter.

They took a two-point edge when Milo, with the wind at his back, boomed a 72-yard punt single. The unfortunate part for Milo, who was filling in again for injured punter Ronnie Pfeffer, probably didn’t want to kick it that far and would have preferred it hadn’t rolled into the end-zone.

Edmonton Eskimos’ John Ojo hoists the Grey Cup trophy up to fans after defeating the Ottawa Redblacks to win the 103rd Grey Cup in Winnipeg, Man. Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015.

Another stalled Ottawa drive and another Edmonton punt left the ball in the Eskimos’ hands with 78 yards between them and the end-zone.

They got there in six plays, mostly because of 65 yards of penalties for pass-interference calls against Kanneh and Sermons on long passes in the direction of Bowman and Derel Walker.

Two pass plays got the ball to the one-yard line and Lynch pushed across on a quarterback sneak from there. Reilly returned to the huddle for the two-point convert and threw a pass to Shavers to make it 26-20.

“Mine was a PI (pass interference), but I didn’t think the other was a PI,” said Kanneh, an East Division all-star cornerback who was forced to play halfback because of an injury to Jerrell Gavins and whose shift inside brought Sermons into the lineup at corner. “It gave them good field position. We just didn’t finish the job, and they scored a touchdown to win. …

“But I can’t say anything bad about the game. I feel like I played my arse off. My teammates played their arses off. The other team just was the victor at the end of the day. I don’t have anything bad to say.”

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